by Kacey Ezell
A thin trail of smoke started issuing from the vents underneath.
“What…”
“Death!” Susa yelled. “Get down! They’ve been hacked!”
Death hunched her shoulders and curled herself around her belly just as Mhrand launched himself at her. She felt the impact of his body covering hers, dragging her to the floor an instant before the bot exploded with a deafening boom. A high-pitched ringing began to sing in her ears, and she fought to recapture the breath that had been knocked from her lungs.
“Beloved. Beloved! Are you all right?”
Mhrand’s voice sounded very far away and tinged with an edge of panic. She felt a lessening of his weight, and the air whooshed into her starving lungs in a rush. She forced her eyes to focus and nodded.
“Yes,” she said, barely hearing herself. “Yes, I’m fine. But you?”
“Shrapnel, it’s nothing,” he said. And then another bot exploded, sending them flying backwards. Death managed to tuck her body into a roll this time and landed on her feet on a nearby ledge, but she felt slow and wrong-footed. What was going on?
“Death?” That was Blade’s voice. The small parlor had filled with smoke, and it was hard to see.
“Here, Blade!” she called. “With Mhrand! I’m all right, but he’s hit!”
Suddenly, three more bots appeared through the swirling smoke, converging on her position. She let out a snarl and leapt up, reaching with her claws to flip herself onto one of the highest ledges of the room—the one that ran around the entire circumference of the place, with openings onto the little used upper hallway system. Death flattened herself on her belly and reached down to her lover.
“Beloved, up here,” she said. Her hearing was coming back rapidly now, thank all that was good. “Before they blow!”
Mhrand looked up and leapt, stretching his forepaws out to clasp with hers. Rather than try to change the vector of his leap, she simply went with his momentum, using her body as a pivot to toss him high enough into the air that his tail grazed the arched ceiling, and he had plenty of room to flip and land on all four feet beside her. He winced as he touched down, and Death caught sight of the dark stain of blood on his back fur.
Before she could do anything about it, though, a whirring sound warned them that the serving bots were hovering up toward them. Death grabbed hold of Mhrand’s arm and pulled him after her into the dark, disused tunnel of the upper hallway. The bots might follow them, she knew, but the tunnels were small enough that only one could approach at a time…and no mere serving bot could outrun a Hunter.
“Stealth,” she whispered, pulling her quintessence field around herself as she did. Her skin came alive with awareness, and a heartbeat later, she felt the pull under her fur as Mhrand did the same. She sprinted down the tunnel, tail whipping behind her as she ran into the darkness.
The corridor curved ahead, which was excellent, because it meant that when the first bot exploded, it did so before the curve, and partially blocked the tunnel for the two bots that followed. Several more twists and turns, and she could no longer hear the high-pitched whirring whine of the bots’ hover engines. The tunnel sloped downward for a bit, and then opened up onto a gallery that had her nearly sitting down as she skidded to a stop.
“What—” Mhrand asked as he nearly barreled into her and dropped his quintessence field. She did the same.
“I’d forgotten this was here,” she said. “Sloppy of me, I know, but we so rarely use these upper passageways. See those doors there? They lead to our sleeping quarters. That gives me an idea. We need to get you to the infirmary, but I know I’d feel a lot better with some weapons. What about you?”
Mhrand answered with a predatory snarl, and Death felt her chest tighten with love for the tough, indomitable Hunter. With weapons and his love beside her, what need had she to fear?
She pressed her cheek against his for a split second before bounding toward one of the doors.
“This one,” she said, slapping her fingerpads against the lock plate. The door creaked a bit from disuse, but slid upward easily enough, letting the dim light from their room shine into the inky darkness of the corridor.
Death didn’t have to urge Mhrand to move quickly. He bolted through the door as soon as she had it open, and she slipped through right on his tail. Once inside, she turned to slap the lock plate on the inside again, and made the door slide down and locked securely into place. None too soon, as she heard a pair of muffled booms through the solidity of the door.
“Down here,” she said, leaping down to the floor and heading to the cupboard that held her harness and weapons. She shrugged into her harness straps, looking over her shoulder at Mhrand while she fastened the belt portion.
Her lover was picking his way down ledge by ledge, moving slower than before. Anger surged through her at the sight of his pain, but she swallowed it, locked it away as something to deal with later. Survival came first.
Death turned back to her cupboard and began sheathing blades and clipping various weapon holsters onto her harness. As a Hunter, direct combat wasn’t her primary skillset. Most often, her contracts had involved getting in unseen, ending a life, and then getting out undetected. But she could run and gun if she had to, so she grabbed several personal energy weapons that would be good for taking out the stupid service bots, at least.
“Are you ready?” she asked, turning back around as she sheathed the last thin, needle-like blade she liked to carry. She was about to speak again, when the sight of Mhrand stopped her. He stood in front of the open cupboard where he’d stored his gear, a slate in hand, a sick look on his face. His ears flattened back against his skull as he looked up at her.
“Beloved?” she asked,
“I can’t go with you,” he said, his voice harsh.
“What? Is something wrong? Your family—?”
“No. Yours. Your Zuul was right. Night Wind Clan has been declared anathema,” he said, turning the slate so she could see it. “Your dama’s crimes couldn’t have happened without help, so you’re all being held responsible for the death of Peacemaker Hrusha.”
“What are you talking about?” Death asked, her voice going shrill. “Dama didn’t kill her! She wouldn’t do that! And you know that there’s no conspiracy! When would I have conspired with anyone? I’m always with you!”
“In light of this, my true dama has called me home.”
Icy cold dread stabbed through Death. She felt her ears flatten, her tail fluff up.
“You would leave me?”
“This says I should kill you,” he said, his words bitter and biting. “The law is clear. You’re responsible for the death of a Hunter without her consent.”
“I didn’t kill the Peacemaker, and neither did Dama!” She spat the words as the cold dread spread throughout her body. What was she saying? What was he saying? “And you are welcome to try.”
Mhrand flipped his tail in negation.
“You know I can’t. I—I love you still, Death. And you carry our offspring—”
“My offspring,” she said, her voice flat as her ears. “If you will not stand beside me now, Mhrand, you will never stand beside me! So, if you will abide by the letter of the interdict, then make your move, false beloved. I will not sell our lives cheaply.”
“I won’t attack you.”
“Then you had better leave, before I attack you.” She delivered the words on a snarl, and leapt over his head toward the highest shelf and the upper hallway, just as the ground-level door slid open and another serving bot appeared. The bot exploded, and Death heard Mhrand’s yowl of pain, but she didn’t look back. She pulled her quintessence field around her and sprinted down the hallway.
In her searing rage, Death didn’t know where she was going. Nor did she care. Her only concern was getting out, away from Mhrand before her sudden desire to feel his flesh tearing beneath her claws took hold.
She rounded a corner and nearly ran bodily into Susa and Blade. The bounty hunter, Alcuin,
followed close behind, gun trained to cover their path. Quick as a thought, Death dropped her quintessence field and leapt into her molly’s arms.
“Good,” Susa said, her voice clipped and calm. “I was looking for you. The bots all left when you did. I think you’re a target. We must get you out. Where’s Mhrand?”
“Gone,” Death said, her voice cracking as anguish flooded through her. She fought it, tried to burn it away with rage. Sadness was incapacitating. For now, anger was better.
She’d be sad later.
“Oh?”
“Ruzeen was right. We’re under interdict. All being held responsible for the Peacemaker’s death, according to the message from his dama. He wouldn’t attack me, so I left.”
“Oh sweetling…”
“No. Not now. Let’s just get to the ships and get out.”
“We can’t stay together. It will be better if we split up,” Susa said. “Flame, you stay with Alcuin, go to her ship. Interdict or not, no one would dare fire on a Peacemaker vessel. Blade will get out on his own. I’ll stay with Death.”
And though it would have been faster for Death to run on her own, she felt Susa’s arms tighten around her as she held her close to her chest and ran for the exit toward ship ridge.
* * *
The sun was coming up, filtering through the green of the jungle canopy, turning the darkness to merely dim. Death could feel Susa’s heart pounding as the Human ran, carrying her down the path through the trees. It wasn’t far to the ridge and the sleek starships that waited there, but the path was twisty and Human eyes weren’t as sharp as a Hunter’s. Death knew she should jump down and lead the way, but she couldn’t bring herself to move from Susa’s embrace.
She felt a pain in her chest, a tightness. Mhrand’s words had caused a cold core of dread to form inside her, and it radiated icy pain that made it hard to breathe. Her mind kept replaying the scene in her sleeping chamber. She could see Mhrand’s face, bewildered and angry. She could see his ears flatten in despair. She could hear the questioning in his voice. And most of all, most dreadfully of all, she could feel his hesitation hanging in the air between them.
He hesitated. In the moment she needed him most, he hesitated to remain by her side.
Unforgivable, and yet…
And yet, hadn’t she been the one to push him away? Wasn’t it her words that reverberated in her memory?
If you will not stand beside me now, you will never stand beside me…you had better leave, before I attack you.
Death tried to breathe past the glacier of pain in her chest, but all she could manage was a mewling sob.
“I know, sweetling.”
Susa, still hustling through the trees, put her face down and brushed her lips against the top of Death’s head, just between her ears. Try though she might, the Hunter couldn’t seem to make any other sound than the soft crying.
“Just hang in there, kita. We’re nearly there. Let us get to the ship and safely away, and then you can fall apart as much as you need. But stay with me now. I fear—”
A bolt of energy fire blasted through the trees, momentarily blinding Death as it fluoresced.
“Fuck,” Susa muttered as she leapt to the side, off the path. “You’d better pull quintessence, sweetling. I’m no match for a Hunter, but if they don’t know you’re here, you might be able to make it on your own.”
“Not without you,” Death said, unable to keep the wet anguish out of her voice.
“I’m not the target, little Dama. You are.”
And just like that, with two words, Susa changed everything. Little Dama. For that was what she was now. Queen of the clan, mother to her unborn kits. While Death herself might have been tempted to succumb to the agony of heartbreak, a dama could not afford such luxuries. Her children must survive. And so, she must survive.
Fair enough.
“Give me ten heartbeats, then run all out for my ship. It’s right in the middle of the pack. Go direct, but use what cover is available,” Death said, her voice firming up with every word. She reached up to rub her cheek hard against Susa’s jaw. “Stay alive, my Human. I need you.”
“I will do my best,” Susa said.
Death supposed that would have to be good enough. Another energy bolt split the air to Susa’s right, causing her to flinch. The scent of ozone and scorched wood wound through the night.
“Ten heartbeats,” Death said as she pulled quintessence and leapt. “Go.”
The moment her paws touched down on the spongy undergrowth of the jungle floor, Death leapt upward again, touching her pads lightly on the upright trunk of a tree and springing back the other way to catch a low hanging branch. She swung around this, using her momentum to whip her body up and onto the rough surface of the tree’s bark. From there, it was another short leap to another, higher branch nearer to the edge of the clearing, where she could see who was shooting at them.
A lone Hunter stood in the meadow, an energy rifle to his shoulder, and his rusty orange ears flat against his skull.
Murrron.
“I see you, Human,” he said. “You can come out. It’s not you I’m after.”
“May I suggest that you cease shooting at me, then?”
“Wasn’t shooting at you. Was shooting near you. If I was shooting at you, you’d be dead.”
“Thank you for missing.”
“You’re welcome. Can’t forever, though,” he said, and Death heard real regret in his voice. “Can miss you, but not the kita. Wish I could.”
“Who would know?”
“Someone. No one. I would know. I’ve lived a good long life, and in all that time, I’ve never willingly disobeyed my dama’s command. I’m not about to start.”
Something in his words caught at Death’s mind. His phrasing was odd. Never willingly disobeyed…Was he giving her a subtle out? If he could be compelled to disobey…
She spared a thought, wishing Blade were here. He was far better at such nuances. Not that it mattered, for Murrron stood between her and escape, so she was going to have to go through him regardless. But maybe he was giving her a chance to succeed.
Death threaded through the tree branches, taking care to move as silently as possible. She reached the edge of the clearing just as Susa’s ten heartbeats were up, for the Human exploded into action below her. Murrron fired three bolts right at her, and likely would have hit, if not for one thing.
She was named Death From Above for good reason.
Death struck from her position, diving down, claws extended. He looked up at her an instant before her forepaws smashed into his face, causing his aim to go wild. She whipped her back legs under herself and down as they caught on his rifle. She stripped the weapon from his grasp as they both tumbled to the ground with the force of her leap.
But Murrron was a Hunter in his own right. And if he was a little slower than he’d been as a youngster, he more than made up for it in age and treachery.
“I loved your dama,” he hissed as they rolled on the ground. He brought one of his claws up in a strike toward her throat, but she managed to turn aside and take it as a glancing blow on her shoulder. “I never told her, but I did. I’ll always regret that.”
“She cared for you a great deal,” Death grunted in return as her back legs scrabbled for purchase near his belly. He kicked them aside and managed to gash her inner thigh hard enough to break skin.
“She did. And that was always enough. I’m as proud of you four as if you were my own,” Murrron said, and bit her painfully on the ear. Death let out a hiss, and drove her claws into the flesh of his chest. Murrron yelped, releasing her ear, and let her go from the grapple.
Death rolled backwards, over her head, and came up in a crouch, her tail rigid. Murrron did something similar, but slowly. Nearby, the sound of starship engines rumbled to life.
“Susa started the ship,” Death said.
“I had it ready to go.”
“Did you now? I get the feeling you don’t really know
what you want out of this encounter.”
“You may be right,” Murrron said, and slow blinked. “But then, that’s never mattered much. Not for me.”
“What does matter?” Death asked, fighting down the icy pain as it tried to resurface.
“Doing a good job,” Murrron said, “Being with those who matter.”
“You could come with us,” Death said. “Join our clan. I can—”
“No,” Murrron said, shaking his head. “Had she wanted me like that, she would have asked. And it’s fine that she didn’t. But I can’t join with you without it, don’t you see?”
“I do,” Death said, swallowing hard against the fullness in her throat. And then she struck, faster than she knew she could move. She pivoted on her front legs and kicked out with her back ones, connecting just below Murrron’s jaw on the side of his neck. His head snapped to the side, and he slumped to the ground. Unconscious or not, she didn’t know. Nor did she have time to figure it out.
Drowning in regret, she leapt over his crumpled form and resumed her sprint for her ship. The hatch stood open, and she vaulted inside, landing on Susa’s lap. Death felt one soft, long fingered hand come to rest on her back while the other slammed down on the canopy control. She was vaguely aware of the light dimming as the hatch closed and sealed. Then there was a kick of acceleration, and she could finally let herself spiral down into blessed oblivion.
* * *
Blade’s ears buzzed, the explosions’ repercussions lingering as he forced himself not to look back. He had no way of knowing which way Death, Flame, or Susa had gone, and knew better than to follow even if he could make out scent or sound in the pungent mix of fire, blood, and smoke overlaying the thick jungle brew that closed around him as he pushed forward.
Pain began to make itself known along his back and limbs, a combination he could not separate into burns or cuts or bruises. With an experimental shake of his head that only made the buzzing worse, he focused on each loping step, forcing a count to keep his pace steady. If he kept himself aimed at a target, it felt less like fleeing from his home. A purpose ahead, not a defeat behind.
